The present invention generally relates to the field of telecommunications, including radio or wireless telecommunications. More particularly, the present invention relates to the field of telecommunications network performance monitoring and network optimization.
A simplified layout of a cellular telecommunications system 100 is depicted in FIG. 1. In this system, mobile stations M1-M10 communicate with the fixed part of a public switched telephone network (PSTN) by transmitting radio signals to, and receiving radio signals from, cellular base stations B1-B10. The cellular base stations B1-B10 are, in turn, connected to the PSTN via a Mobile Switching Center (MSC). Each base station B1-B10 transmits signals within a corresponding area, or xe2x80x9ccellxe2x80x9d C1-C10. Within each cell, a base station transmits to the mobile units located therein over downlink RF channels, while the mobile units transmit information to the base station over uplink RF channels.
A radio telecommunications network, of course, may consist of many systems, such as the cellular telecommunications system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1, wherein each system is handled by one or more MSCs. In order to properly control the network, as well as each of the systems which make up the network, the radio telecommunications network is generally maintained and serviced by a network operator. Typically, maintaining and servicing the network involves collecting and interpreting a large quantity of statistical data relating to network performance. Then, based on this statistical data, the network operator may adjust certain network parameters with the intention that such adjustments will improve overall network performance.
Conventionally, network operators rely on counter-based systems to gather and process the large quantity of performance data needed to maintain and service the network. FIG. 2 provides an example of a conventional, counter-based system. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the exchange level or network level switch 205 contains a number of event counters 0 . . . n. For any one of these event counters 0 . . . n, the human operator 215 must define a measuring program. This involves entering the appropriate commands into the switch 205, through the network operator workstation 220, which in turn, instructs the corresponding counter (or counters) to count the occurrence of a particular event over a period of time also defined by the human operator 215. Then, each time that event occurs, the switch 205 increments the corresponding counter. The type of events that might be tracked using the event counters 0 . . . n include, for example, attempted handovers into a particular cell, successful handovers into a cell, attempted handovers from a cell into a neighboring cell, and successful handovers from a cell into a neighboring cell. At the end of the predefined measurement period, the switch 205 outputs the value stored in the corresponding counter to a post-processing application being executed in the external workstation 220. The post-processing application then converts the event information into a user-friendly format, such as a report or graph, for the human operator 215. The human operator 215 may then alter or update the configuration of the switch 205 based on the information provided by the post-processing application.
Conventional systems, such as the system illustrated in FIG. 2, suffer from a number of drawbacks. First, the human operator must generally wait a relatively long period of time (e.g., a period of time equal to the predefined measurement period, plus a period of time required by the post-processor to process the event data) to obtain processed statistical information representing network performance. Then, yet additional time is required for the human operator to interpret the processed, network performance information. Because of the delays associated with collecting, processing and interpreting the network performance data, it is difficult to make rapid decisions regarding adjustments to the switch configuration so as to quickly enhance network performance. Second, a significant amount of processing is performed by the switch itself. However, the switch is generally a very expensive network component which is designed to handle critical switch operations, not data gathering or statistical analysis. Because the collection of event data represents a large processing load, maintaining and controlling the various event counters in the switch may significantly impact the switch""s ability to perform the required critical switch operations. Third, each of the various systems which make up the radio telecommunications network may be designed by, and include components manufactured by, different vendors, wherein each employs its own proprietary format. As such, it is difficult to design post-processing applications that are universally compatible with each system in the network. In addition, this flaw also makes it difficult to build post-processing applications that support automatic processing and analysis of performance statistics, feedback and automatic switch reconfiguration. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide network system architectures and methods that more effectively and efficiently provide radio telecommunications network management.
The present invention provides an efficient and effective radio network management architecture and method for collecting, processing, analyzing and employing key network performance indicators, wherein the network performance indicators involve call event-based data rather than counter-based data. As one skilled in the art will readily appreciate, every call associated with the network involves a sequence of defined elements known as call events, for example, registration, handover, page responses, access, and many others. Unlike conventional systems which, as stated above, use the exchange level or network level switch to count exchange or network level events, and then transfer the count data to an external workstation for post-processing and analysis by a human operator, the present invention transfers detailed event information relating to each call, on the occurrence of the event, to an xe2x80x9copenxe2x80x9d platform (i.e., one that is compatible with multiple computer systems) for real-time or near real-time processing. Then, based on the processed call event data, the present invention provides real-time or near real-time analysis of the processed call event data and automatic network (e.g., switch) optimization through feedback control for critical operations. For non-critical operations, the present invention supports additional post-processing and display of such data for the human operator. The processing of non-critical operations data, however, is accomplished on hardware that is physically separated from the switch so that the processing of such data does not inhibit, in any way, the switch""s ability to perform critical operations.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a radio network management capability that reduces the time required to interpret network performance indicators.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a radio network management capability that can more rapidly identify network problems based on interpreted network performance indicators.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a radio network management capability that can provide real-time or near real-time feedback control for the purpose of taking corrective action, such as, switch reconfiguration, to mitigate problems which may degrade network performance.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a radio network management capability that improves network quality of service.
It is further another object of the present invention to provide a radio network management capability that increases network capacity, particularly processing capacity.
In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the above-identified, and other objects are achieved with a network node that includes means for continuously receiving call traffic event data from a second network node, where the call traffic event data relates to a particular call traffic event, and where the second network node interfaces with and is independent of the first network node. In addition, the network node includes means for processing the continuously received call traffic event data relating to the call traffic event.
In accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the above-identified, and other objects are achieved by a radio telecommunications network capable of monitoring and adjusting network performance based on call traffic event based data. The network includes a network element level switch and a network element level network management node connected to the network element level switch. Furthermore, the network element level network management node contains means for continuously receiving call traffic event data, relating to a particular call traffic event, from the network element level switch, and means for continuously processing the continuously received call traffic event data.
In accordance with yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the above-identified and other objects are achieved by a call traffic event based network performance monitoring system. The system includes a first plurality of network elements, where each comprises a network element level switch. In addition, the system includes a plurality of network element level network management nodes. Through a standardized, open interface, each of the plurality of network element level network management nodes is connected to a corresponding one of the first plurality of network elements. Furthermore, each of the plurality of network element level network management nodes comprises means for continuously receiving call traffic event data from the corresponding network element, and means for processing the continuously received call traffic event data. The system also includes a network level network management node connected to each of the plurality of network element level network management nodes through the standardized, open interface. The network level network management node, in turn, comprises means for receiving processed call traffic event data from each network element level network management node, a measurement system for deriving network level statistical information based on the processed call traffic event data received from each network element level network management node, and an expert system for analyzing the derived network level statistical information.
In accordance with still another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the above-identified and other objects are achieved by a call traffic event based network performance monitoring method. The method includes steps for detecting a call traffic data event. Thereafter, real-time call traffic event data is continuously forwarded from a network element level switch to a corresponding network element level network management node, where the call traffic event data is related to the detected call traffic event. The method also includes continuously processing the real-time call traffic event data, in the network element level network manager, for purposes of monitoring network performance.